Davis twins turn attention to senior season

Bill Althaus bill.althaus@examiner.net @AlthausEJC

Tuesday

Jul 30, 2019 at 8:32 AMJul 30, 2019 at 5:00 PM

Blue Springs High School football coach Kelly Donohoe picked the perfect time to ask former Wildcat all-state defensive linemen Carlos and Khalil Davis to join him for lunch, as the University of Nebraska seniors were in town to visit their family and friends.

“Coach,” Khalil said, “we’d love to go out to lunch, but we just got our braces tightened and our mouths are really sore, so all we’re going to be able to eat is soup.”

Anyone who has ever seen the twins devour everything on a restaurant’s menu will understand Donohoe’s chuckle, and sigh of relief.

“Well,” Donohoe quipped, “the old pocketbook isn’t going to take much of a hit on this lunch.”

Soon, Donohoe and the twins, who won back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013, are seated at a table and reminiscing about the good ol’ days and talking excitedly about their future.

“I know if it was up to them,” Donohoe said, “they’d like to just get their own fishing show and go out and fish all over the country and get paid for it. But you know what? I think we’re going to see them playing a little ball on Sundays.”

While their Nebraska football teams have not been outstanding, the Davis twins have arrived on the radar of many NFL scouts, making their senior seasons that much more intense.

“We can’t think about stuff like that,” Carlos said. “All we’re thinking about is having a great season at Nebraska. That other stuff will take care of itself.

“We’re both graduating and walking across the stage Aug. 17. We have received a great education, we have been blessed to have played college football at the highest level and we can’t wait for this season.”

Throughout lunch Donohoe asks them about the Cornhusker coaching staff, their teammates and what game day Saturdays are like in Lincoln.

“Lincoln on game days is amazing,” Khalil said, as the two brothers alternated answering questions, something they became quite skilled at while dominating the Eastern Jackson County sports scene while playing for the Wildcats.

“Everything is red. The whole town just concentrates on the game, and being in that environment is amazing. I wish everyone could experience that because you never forget it.

“Friday nights under the lights in Blue Springs was amazing, but game days for the Nebraska football team is something else!”

Carlos and Khalil – who dominated the throwing events for coach Joe Cusack’s back-to-back state championship track and field teams while they were at Blue Springs – also threw the shot and discus at Nebraska, and Carlos was an All-American this past season.

But now, all their attention is on the gridiron.

“It’s nice to get back home for a little while,” Carlos said, “because football is going to get going and we’re going to be so busy getting ready for the season.

“And I think this is the season that Nebraska football is going to get back to the Nebraska football that made the Cornhuskers such a successful program. Everyone is focused - our coaches, our teammates, everyone – and we’re ready to go.”

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